Many people have now heard of bitcoin and cryptocurrency. And many have heard the term “blockchain” thrown around. But what is this new technology, and why is it such a big deal? How does it work? What other uses for blockchain exist outside of facilitating financial transactions? How does it make traditional banking obsolete?
Blockchain defined
A blockchain is a distributed ledger of transactions that use cryptography to keep exchanges secure. A distributed network of computers verifies orWednesday, December 13, 2017

It was two years ago this week that I proclaimed that we were witnessing the final lows in the 2011–2015 bear market in the precious metals as gold traded down to $1,045 amidst total capitulation by the Large Specs and after massive short-covering by the Commercial traders. The weekly COT for that week showed an aggregate short position of a miniscule 2,911 contracts down from the earlier highs of over 300,000 contracts. About six weeks later, despite the earlier bottom in gold, the HUI (NYSE ArTuesday, December 12, 2017

Volcanic ash rained down on the villages which are spotting the countryside in Bali. Mount Agung erupted again sending a massive plume of ash into the sky.
The Bali volcano threat level has been raised to the highest possible level, putting it at a level 4, while the aviation ash warning is now orange. The latest Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation (VONA) was issued after Mount Agung erupted yesterday morning following several days of calm.
The tourist season has been widely interrupted becaMonday, December 11, 2017

Technical analyst Jack Chan charts the latest movements in the gold and silver markets.
Our proprietary cycle indicator is down.
The gold sector is on a long-term buy signal. Long-term signals can last for months and years and are more suitable for investors holding for long term.
The gold sector is on a short-term sell signal. Short-term signals can last for days and weeks, and are more suitable for traders.
Open interests have dropped drasticMonday, December 11, 2017

The bitcoin price has rocketed roughly 1,500% higher in 2017 to around $19,000, before correcting to the current price at $15,000. The #2 cryptocurrency by market cap, Ethereum, is up more than 5,000% year to date and many of the altcoins that we track have enjoyed similar gains. Cryptocurrencies have been one of the best-performing asset classes of all time.
So, why have so many astute investors and otherwise intelligent people been completely wrong about bitcoin? Why do they profess to know itSunday, December 10, 2017

Bitcoin’s meteoric skyrocketing this year has been astonishing,
captivating traders across the globe. This once-obscure
cryptocurrency has exploded into the world’s hottest market. With
fortunes being won on paper, everyone is talking about bitcoin. But
with its price shooting parabolic, unfortunately this wild ride has
all the hallmarks of a classic popular speculative mania. And those
all end badly, totally collapsing.
In
the annals of financial-market historFriday, December 8, 2017

Axel Merk, Merk Investments
December 7, 2017
Follow @AxelMerk Tweet
With the stock market and Bitcoin reaching all-time highs, what can possible go wrong? In offering my thoughts on 2018, I see my role in reminding investors to stress test their portfolios. Is your portfolio built of straw, sticks or brick?
First, let me allege many investors have portfolios built of straw and sticks rather than brick. How do I knFriday, December 8, 2017

For better or worse, bitcoin has everyone’s attention. Anyone even remotely aware of the cryptocurrency’s increasingly wild price swings would recognize a full-blown mania, just as those on the periphery of the Dutch tulip bulb craze of 1636-37 must have known that it would end badly. For now, however, bitcoin has been a big winner for virtually everyone who bought before Monday and held onto it. But it is attracting a growing number of speculators who think they can do even better by trading thThursday, December 7, 2017

LONDON -- Customers of cryptocurrency trading platform Bittrex are complaining of problems withdrawing money and say they have been left in the dark by the huge U.S. exchange.
Several Bittrex customers contacted Business Insider in recent weeks to complain about problems. Others have taken to Twitter and forums such as Reddit.
The majority appear to have issues verifying their identities when trying to withdraw money from the platform. The people who BI spoke to are angry that they have receivedThursday, December 7, 2017

Over the past couple of weeks, we have been focused on Russia and
their understanding of gold and why gold is going to come back to the
table of regional and/or international trade. It may even make a grand
re-entrance as backing for a national currency or two.
Russia, with her closest ally China, have been making headlines, in
the broader financial world, for close to two years regarding their
acquisitions of gold. Within the smaller gold community these two
nations have been making headlThursday, December 7, 2017

During the 2006-9 financial crisis, a collapse of the global financial system was avoided by massive money printing, guarantees and allowing banks to value assets at cost rather than market, as well as a panic lowering of interest rates from as high as 6% in the US to zero or negative. Bonds issued by eight major countries currently have negative interest rates from 1 & 2 year debt for Italy up to 15 & 30 year debt for Japan, Germany and Switzerland.
GLOBAL LIABILITIES OF $2 QUADRILLION
WhateveThursday, December 7, 2017

An August 2016 analysis outlined a long-term bullish signal for stocks that has occurred only ten other times in the last thirty-five years. If we fast forward to December 2017, is market breadth/volume aligning with or contradicting bullish data we have in hand?
The chart below shows up/down volume (1996-2010) for the NYSE Composite Stock Index, along with its 50-week moving average (thick blue line).
Notice how all-things-being equal, the probability of bad things happening increases when Thursday, December 7, 2017

For the past few weeks I’ve suggested that a modest US dollar rally against the yen (and thus gold) was due…and now it’s here!
The dollar’s right shoulder rally fits with the US senate’s decision to finally pass some corporate tax cuts. That’s modestly good news for “risk-on” investors.
It’s modest because it comes at a late stage in the business cycle. Many institutional money managers are trimming US stock market holdings. They are investing the proceeds into key Asian markets where corporWednesday, December 6, 2017

Technical analyst Jack Chan charts the latest moves in the gold and silver markets, as well as the one-day fluctuations of a gold major.
Our proprietary cycle indicator is down.
The gold sector is on a long-term buy signal. Long-term signals can last for months and years and are more suitable for investors holding for long term.
Gold sector is on a short term buy signal. Short term signals can last for days and weeks, and are more suitable for tradTuesday, December 5, 2017

GOLD PRICES dipped Monday morning as the US Dollar gained following the Senate's approval of Donald Trump's tax cuts and Western stock markets rose,
writes Steffen Grosshauser at BullionVault.
The US Dollar briefly touched a 2-week high after the Senate narrowly approved the Republican Party's tax overhaul on Saturday, including plans to slash the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%.
Monday, December 4, 2017

“Contact with Russians.” Grown men and women, doubling and re-doubling down on a political fantasy, repeat this prayer hour after hour on the cable channels and Web waves as if trying to exorcise a nation possessed by the unholy hosts of Hell. But such vicars of the news as Wolf Blitzer, Rachel Maddow, Chuck Todd, and Dean Baquet (of The New York Times) only shove the country closer to a cliff of constitutional crisis.
To a certain class of people — a class that includes a lot of Intellectuals-YMonday, December 4, 2017

A VIX spiked today enabled a trader known as the "50 Cent Elephant" to escape his VIX bet with minimal losses.The VIX, a measure of S&P volatility usually drops when the market rises. Yesterday, despite a huge rally on news that the Senate had reached agreement on a tax bill, the VIX spiked.
Today, equities are down sharply and the VIX up sharply on news former national security adviser Michael Flynn would implicate members of President Donald Trump’s transition team in the probe into Russian meFriday, December 1, 2017

Russia is not Venezuela.
I have long argued that most of Venezuela’s monetary issues are due
to their unwillingness to return the gold they received from the Federal
Reserve. Goldman Sachs had offered to acquire Venezuela’s gold, when
the oil market began it’s slide and
OPEC decided to flood the market with oil.
The story line was OPEC was attacking the US shale oil market when this
move actually crushed Russia and Venezuela’s oil market. Venezuela,
eventually, accepted
Goldman’s offerFriday, December 1, 2017

The
junior gold miners’ stocks have spent months grinding sideways near
lows, sapping confidence and breeding widespread bearishness. The
entire precious-metals sector has been left for dead, eclipsed by
the dazzling Trumphoria stock-market rally. But traders need to
keep their eyes on the fundamental ball so herd sentiment doesn’t
mislead them. The juniors recently reported Q3 earnings, and
enjoyed strong results.
Four
times a year publicly-traded companiesFriday, December 1, 2017